Remembering Vietnam 1975

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Barbara

According to the Vietnam War Almanac (Reference Collection DS557.7 .S94 1985), the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. On May 1st, “Communist troops of North Vietnam … poured into Saigon today as a century of Western influence came to an end.” [from The Vietnam War, v.2, p.770 (Reference Collection DS 557.4 .V57 2001)]

As this anniversary approaches, I want to call your attention to the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial, provided by the National Archives and Records Administration and Footnote.com. You can search for names on the wall and leave messages or images. Digitized war photos from the Archives are here also.

Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War cover

Carried to the Wall cover

More information is at the University Library. Browse the Reference Collection for the titles mentioned above (and titles near them). Do a Subject Keyword search in the Library Catalog for “vietnam war” for a huge list of related topics to choose. There’s even a book about the memorial itself: Carried to the wall: American memory and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (3rd-floor Main Collection DS559.83.W18 H33 1998).

There are of course also numerous articles in magazines, journals and newspapers…even articles that appeared during the war (search the New York Times Historical database). Ask a reference librarian for assistance if needed.

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

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Undergrad Research posters

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Barbara

A sampling of Undergraduate Research posters is on display in the University Library. Come take a look! You also can browse a small sample of projects online as part of the institutional repository called MINDS@UW.

poster presentation image2

poster presentation image1

Your poster could be displayed next year! Get information online about the Undergraduate Research Program at UWW, including basic information about how you get started! This program is for everyone–sciences, arts, business, social sciences and humanities. It’s also a chance to get to know your faculty better.

UWW celebrates undergraduate research projects at “Undergraduate Research Day” every spring, and also sends students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research every spring.

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Chocolate for your password

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Barbara

OK, what’s more important to you: your password or your chocolate habit?

A study in London found that a disturbing number of people would give up their computer passwords for a chocolate bar (121 of 576 subway riders, or 21 percent, at London’s Liverpool Street Station). Apparently this is an improvement, because last year 64% preferred the chocolate to their computer security! The study also found gender made a difference: 45 percent of women, compared with 10 percent of the men, gave up their passwords (Hey! C’mon ladies!). Of course, as my coworker pointed out, the chocoholics may be giving up bogus passwords. I certainly hope so!

This is yet another gem brought to my attention by my iGoogle science news tab. It was a “News Bytes of the Week” item at the Scientific American web site.

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Know your history & civics? Quiz

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Barbara

The USA Weekend for April 11-13, 2008 reported how poorly 14,000 seniors and freshmen at 50 institutions of higher education performed on a quiz about basic U.S. history and civics: the average score was a mere 52%, which probably included a lot of guesswork. Well, I could have told you how history-challenged we are from watching Jaywalking on The Tonight Show. I once watched as Mr. Leno asked someone when the War of 1812 took place–and the person got it wrong!

Take the civics quiz yourself. I did, and I scored considerably better than Harvard’s average of 69.6%, but not as well I would have liked.

Don't Know Much About History coverA People's History of the United States coverBrush up with books like Don’t know much about history (3rd-floor Main Collection, E178.25 .D37 1990) or A people’s history of the United States (Main Collection, E178 .Z75 2003). It could be a summer project! That way you won’t embarrass yourself if Jay Leno asks you questions from his little blue cards.

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What’s a wiki?

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Barbara

Here’s a very short video explaining wikis, from the clever folks at Common Craft:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY[/youtube]

Common Craft has many short videos explaining things like RSS, social bookmarking, twitter, blogs, sharing photos online, and more. You can also get them through YouTube (a search for leelefever gets a list).

Now, why do you want to know about wikis? You may want to use one! They are tools for collaborative group work that can cut down on email among group members. Also, if a group at work has a shared drive where the documents and folders are out of control and not searchable, putting them into a wiki can keep them in a central place while making them searchable too. Everyone in the group can both view and edit the pages.

There are articles about the usefulness of wikis for education and training online. The University Library also has a few books, such as Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd-floor Main Collection, LB1044.87 .R53 2006) and Wiki: Web collaboration (3rd-floor Main Collection, TK5105.888 .E2413 2006).

The most well-known wiki example is of course Wikipedia. But UWW has some wikis too. Go to https://wiki.uww.edu/ to see the list (click “Directory” on the left). There are several set up for specific classes, and for faculty there is an Academic Misconduct Wiki (under the “Other” part of the wiki directory) where you can talk to each other about concerns and share suggestions. It’s protected so that only UWW faculty can use it.

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Daniel Maguire @UWW Apr 21

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Barbara

Daniel Maguire, Marquette University Ethics Professor, will present “Paranoia and the Roots of War: Unmasking the Illusions of a ‘Superpower” on Monday April 21st, 7 p.m., in the Hamilton Center (James R. Connor University Center). This is the Political Science Department’s 23rd Annual John Kenneth Kyle Lecture.

Professor Maguire’s specialty is religious ethics, focusing upon issues of social justice and medical and ecological ethics.

Horrors We Bless coverHe has authored several books, five of which are available from the University Library. Search the catalog for the author maguire daniel to see the list. Additional titles may be requested free by UWW students and staff from other UW libraries using the Universal Borrowing service. His 2007 book Horrors we bless: Rethinking the Just-War Legacy is not available in the UW System, but could be obtained through the ILLiad interlibrary loan service (for $1). There are preview pages available online through Google Book Search.

There also are many articles in magazines, newspapers, and journals by or about him. For example, search for au maguire daniel c in Academic Search Premier (Ebsco). Or search for LPER({MAGUIRE, DANIEL}) in ProQuest Newsstand, finding there, for example, an article “War urge: Ingrained in humanity” (Charleston Gazette, June 2007), which discusses Horrors we bless and includes the quote “Humans have been at peace for only 8 percent of the past 3,400 years of recorded history.”

I expect this to be a thought-provoking talk.

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We’ve Still Got Books For Sale!

Posted on April 18, 2008 by kyle

Thought you missed the book sale? Well, technically, you did. But there’s still plenty of books out in the lobby for the picking. Prices have been slashed and you can even fill up a bag and take it all for $5. Now that’s a deal.

COME SUPPORT YOUR LIBRARY!

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Carnivorous Plants presentation

Posted on April 18, 2008 by Barbara

T. Golembiewski's photoTerre Golembiewski, Laboratory Manager, Biological Sciences, will talk about “Carnivorous Plants: Wonders of the Natural World” on April 21st at 3 pm, the last spring 2008 Fairhaven Lecture. It’s open to everyone at Fairhaven Retirement Community’s Fellowship Hall (435 West Starin).

If you can’t make it, lectures in the series can be heard and viewed from the lecture series web site.

If you’re interested in learning more, the University Library has articles and books on this topic.

Cover of Journal of Ecology issueSearch science databases such as Biological Abstracts for “carnivorous plant*” to identify articles such as “Prey availability directly affects physiology, growth, nutrient allocation and scaling relationships among leaf traits in 10 carnivorous plant species” published in the January 2008 issue of Journal of Ecology (Vol. 96, Iss. 1, pp. 213-221). UWW students and faculty have online access to the full text of this article.

Carnivorous Plants book coverSearch the University Library catalog for “carnivorous plants” and you’ll find books such as the 2002 Carnivorous plants of the United States and Canada (3rd-floor Main Collection QK917 .S36 2002).

I knew someone who had one of these plants in her office–I suppose it’s an option for those of you who are allergic to furry pets!

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Earth Day (April 22)

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Barbara

Every April 22nd we celebrate Earth Day. Information about UWW’s Earth Day conference on April 22nd and other campus events is online.

Earth image from NASA

The federal government’s earthday.gov web site has suggestions for things you can do at home, at work or in the classroom. The Environmental Protection Agency provides a history of Earth Day, which was proposed by Gaylord Nelson, then U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, and first celebrated in 1970 (the same year the EPA was created). The web site includes listings of major U.S. environmental legislation and links to articles and reports related to Earth Day history.

Library resources are available for more information:

Beyond Earth Day cover

A keyword search of the Library catalog for “earth day” finds some materials that could be used with children, as well as Gaylord Nelson’s 2002 book Beyond Earth Day: fulfilling the promise (3rd-floor Main Collection, GE195 .N45 2002). Some materials are government publications, including State of Wisconsin’s natural resources (Wisconsin documents NAT 1/2:S 73/2001).

Blessed Unrest cover

Catalog searches for other keywords find additional related materials. A search for environmentalism, for example, brings up the book Blessed unrest: how the largest movement in the world came into being and why no one saw it coming (3rd-floor Main Collection GE195 .H388 2007). Here’s a quote from it:

“Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act. It is a massive enterprise undertaken by ordinary citizens everywhere, not by self-appointed governments or oligarchies.”

Economics of Climate Change cover

A keyword search for “environmental policy” finds titles like The economics of climate change: the Stern Review (3rd-floor Main Collection QC981.8.C5 G738 2007) and First along the river: a brief history of the U.S. environmental movement (3rd-floor Main Collection, GE195 .K578 2007).

Articles are also available through Library databases such as EBSCOhost‘s Academic Search Premier and WilsonWeb’s General Science Full Text. In the latter database, for example, a search for environmentalism finds “Where the Green is: examining the paradox of environmentally conscious consumption,” an article in Electronic Green Journal. In both of these databases results may be limited to scholarly/peer-reviewed articles if desired.

Finally, you can locate organizations and their websites by using the Associations Unlimited database. A search for earth day finds Earth Day Network, and many other organizations.

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

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National Poetry Month (April)

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Barbara

How do you celebrate National Poetry Month? Well, read poetry! Also, on April 17th, carry a poem in your pocket. Seriously.

It seems that April 17th is the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day. Carry a poem with you and share it with co-workers, family, and friends.

Need help finding a poem? The Academy of American Poets can help…browse poems online. Or, do a subject keyword search of the University Library catalog for
poetry. Or, search the poems section of the LitFINDER database.

I’d like to share with you an excerpt from The Library Speaks by Elizabeth Welton Lumpkin (discovered in the LitFINDER database):

Photo of library books

I hold within my silent heart
A store of wisdom deep,
Which you, by reaching out your hands,
May have to use and keep.

And more than this I have at heart
A fond and deep desire
To be a help in anything
To which you may aspire.

I hold the best of everything
In History, Science, Art,
And stand in eager willingness
This knowledge to impart.

Men would forget the Great of yore
And all their valiant deeds;
So I will keep them on my shelf
For everyone who reads.

Discoveries of every age,
And tales from every land,
I have in language clear and plain
That all may understand.

Great Artists too, with brush and pen
In History took their parts
And gave me pictures, poems, prose,
The choicest of their arts.

But if you tire of lore so deep
And would relax the mind,
I have the choicest fiction
It is possible to find. …

So come as often as you can
And spend some time with me,
For you’ll grow old as I grow old,
And lifelong friends we’ll be.

If you liked this excerpt, you can read the entire poem in the database, or check out the book Homespun; an anthology of poetry by the General federation of women’s clubs (University Library’s 1st-floor Center Compact Shelving PS589 .G4).

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